Enduro vs. Cyclocross

I had a few thoughts on the nice road ride I just got back from.  I'm going to put my armchair physiologist hat on for this one.  It seems like Enduro and Cyclocross require a lot of the same types of stuff...

For those of you who are still living in 2011, Enduro is a type of mountain biking racing that involves untimed transfer sections (usually climbs) and timed special stages (always mostly downhill).  Think of it as that road ride with your buddies where you rip each others legs off on the climbs, regroup at the top, and enjoy a nice chill, conversational pace until you get to your next major climb, but in reverse.  Instead of spreading this out in a bunch of text, I'm going to distill this into a table.

Seems legit, right?  Other than the obvious difference that Enduro involves flying down mountains at stupid speed over rocks, drops, and whatever the trail throws at you, and Cyclocross involves flying around muddy off camber corners on skinny tires with 150 or so of your great skinsuit-wearing buddies, a lot of the same physical efforts seem to be involved.  At least according to my un-informed opinion...

In case you haven't heard, Ms. Geology (soon to be Mrs. Geology) and I are moving.  Currently we live here:

Image courtesy of our great eye-in-the-sky LANDSAT 8 and the USGS.  Further images available at http://landsatlook.usgs.gov/ 

We are moving here:

Image courtesy of our great eye-in-the-sky LANDSAT 8 and the USGS.  Further images available at http://landsatlook.usgs.gov/ 

In case you're extremely geographically challenged (in which case, go buy yourself a damn map and study up), that's the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  One is the place we live now, and the other is the place we are moving to.  It is very exciting, and all very sudden.  A few weeks ago, frustrated by the lack of job opportunities in the PA area (were we originally wanted to move), Alyssa and I decided to expand out job search.  We looked at a map,immediately ruled out a vast swath of the country, and settled on Colorado.  Within the span of a week, Ms. Geology had applied for, interviewed, been offered, and accepted a job teaching Earth Science at a high school outside of Denver.  It's pretty crazy.  We're more than 50% packed, at least according to my rough approximation of how much volume of the boxes in our living room would take up if they were unpacked, and how many shelves in our apartment are empty.  It doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere, though, since all the shit is still in the apartment.  It's kind of frustrating, but it is what it is.  Two weeks until the big move... nine more days of work.  Most of them will be in the field, and it's gonna be pretty hot out for the next two weeks.  Getting my pre-hydration on right now...

I'll probably update again once I'm in Colorado... a lot to do before then, ya know???